“Congratulations to Victoria Neave, Philip Cortez, Tomas Uresti, Mary Ann Perez and incumbent Sarah Davis on their election victories tonight. These races were very competitive and our endorsed candidates worked hard to make sure voters knew where they stood on the issues. Planned Parenthood Texas Votes PAC made sure that women’s health and rights were front and center for Texas voters. The election results tonight show that women and men who support Planned Parenthood demand that their elected officials support and protect women’s health and rights.

Despite the Supreme Court decision in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt that struck down key provisions in the 2013 anti-abortion law HB 2, Governor Abbott and extremist politicians in the state legislature continue and promise to increase efforts to restrict access to abortion and reproductive rights. Voters have elected pro-choice candidates to the Texas House of Representatives and these new House members will make sure that the voices, stories and needs of Texas women are represented during the 2017 legislative session.

Tonight, we celebrate these important victories, and tomorrow we get back to work fighting to protect access to reproductive health care.”

BACKGROUND ON CHALLENGER WINS

Victoria Neave (HD 107) holds a 100% rating from Planned Parenthood Texas Votes. She ran a strong campaign focused on issues that impact women most like earning equal pay for equal work and supporting access to women’s health care.

Former legislators returning to the State House, Phil Cortez (HD 117) and Mary Ann Perez (HD 144) have proven records of standing up for Texas women, including voting against HB 2.

The opponents in HD 107, HD 117 and HD 144 have clear records of voting against Planned Parenthood and against reproductive rights. In the 2015 legislative session they went so far as to vote to further restrict access to abortion for abused teens, even those who are victims of rape and incest.

Tomas Uresti holds a 100% rating from Planned Parenthood Texas Votes and handily unseated John Lujan. Lujan has been known to join extremist groups protesting outside of Planned Parenthood health centers and touted endorsements from groups that describe reproductive health care as “evil”.

BACKGROUND ON INCUMBENT WIN

Incumbent State Representative Sarah Davis (HD 134) is the only Republican in the state legislature who publicly supports women’s health, full reproductive rights and Planned Parenthood. She has been an active champion for women’s health, fighting against the anti-abortion law, HB 2 and fighting to protect women’s health funding for cancer screenings.

Because of our nationwide outreach, our ability to move key swing and base voters, and strong support for our issues Planned Parenthood advocacy and political organizations helped turn out voters and worked to move voters toward women’s health champions this election

Despite high-profile extremist efforts to demonize Planned Parenthood, support for Planned Parenthood health centers remains remarkably high among actual voters. Arecent Public Policy Polling pollshowed strong support for Planned Parenthood, and opposition to candidates who have voted to defund the nonprofit health care provider. A recentPolitico-Harvard poll also showed overwhelming support for Planned Parenthood, including48 percent support for Planned Parenthood from self-identified Trump supporters. Additionally, through field testing, Planned Parenthood Votes has seen door-to-door canvassing move undecided voters up to 12 points. And during the last presidential debate, aCNN focus group in the critical state of Nevada showed that undecided voters weremost movedwhen Hillary strongly defended Planned Parenthood and a woman’s right to make her own health decisions.

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Planned Parenthood Texas Votes (PPTV) is the nonpartisan policy, advocacy and political arm for the Planned Parenthood affiliates in Texas.

Planned Parenthood Texas Votes (PPTV) is the statewide advocacy arm of Planned Parenthood affiliates in Texas that engages supporters of reproductive health to fight to protect and expand women’s access to preventative and reproductive healthcare, including abortion. The work at PPTV is fast paced and deals with complex and high priority matters related to the electoral and legislative politics of women’s health in Texas. Our programs range from talking to voters about the politics of abortion to advocating to protect state funding for breast cancer screenings.

The Youth Organizer will lead campus and community outreach activities to engage young people in the fight for reproductive health in Texas, including recruiting new supporters, engaging volunteers, executing effective issue and voter education campaigns, and hosting campus events.

Key Responsibilities

Recruit students and young people to support Planned Parenthood and access to reproductive healthcare through campus and community events and actions, including tabling, crowd canvassing, and phonebanking.

Promote engagement of existing supporters and development of volunteers through organized events and actions on and off campus, including participating in and leading trainings and facilitating meetings.

Build meaningful relationships and partners with campus organizations to further reproductive justice initiatives on campus.

Attend local community events on behalf of Planned Parenthood as requested.

Additional responsibilities, as needed.

Qualifications

Currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Three months of consistent volunteer experience with Planned Parenthood or another progressive organization.

Ability to function in a fast paced work environment and manage multiple tasks.

Working knowledge of Google Docs, Microsoft Office Suite, and other technical tools.

Deep appreciation for mission of Planned Parenthood and reproductive justice.

Interest in Texas politics.

Enjoys operating in a fast-paced environment; a nimble and flexible work style.

A direct and open interpersonal communication style; a smart and confident leader.

Training

As a Youth Organizer, you will participate in regional, state, and national trainings run by experienced Planned Parenthood staff. All Youth Organizers are required to attend the Planned Parenthood Youth Power Summit in Houston, August 19-21. This training will supplement the valuable skills and experience you gain on your campus and in your community.

Equal employment opportunity and having a diverse staff are fundamental to our success at PPTV. Employment opportunities are based on an individual’s capabilities and qualifications without regard to race, color, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, or any other protected characteristic as established under the law.

On March 2, a coalition of organizations, including the Center for Reproductive Rights, Whole Woman’s Health, Planned Parenthood, NARAL, Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, and several other groups, rallied on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court as Justices heard oral arguments in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt. This case on abortion rights is one of the most significant before the court in almost 25 years.

HB2, the extreme anti-abortion law passed by the Texas Legislature in 2013, has only proven to close clinic doors across the state and prevent women from seeking abortion care. Activists in Texas have been fighting for several legislative sessions against continued abortion restrictions and defunding.

Amongst the crowd in DC, we were proud to be represented by seven amazing Planned Parenthood activists from various communities across the state:

Elena: A freshman at Rice University and the Advocacy Coordinator for Rice for Reproductive Justice, the Planned Parenthood Generation Action chapter.
Victor: A junior at Texas A&M University who is active in the reproductive health and justice movement by serving as the Social Media Officer for the Feminists for Reproductive Equity & Education (FREE).

Cheryl: A volunteer at our Waco health center, serving as a clinic escort and supporting our patients. She is involved in our advocacy efforts where she has provided testimony to local elected officials and organizes volunteers to lobby members of the Legislature.

Staphany: A student leader who immediately became involved with Planned Parenthood in 2013 becoming fed up with the Legislature’s relentless attacks during the HB2 debate in Austin. She is a Mexican-American, first-generation college student.

Barbie: Barbie began volunteering with Planned Parenthood in San Antonio after Governor Abbott and the Legislature cut access to breast and cervical cancer screenings. For Barbie, attacks on women’s health are personal. Her mother was able to detect and cure her cancer thanks to clinics like Planned Parenthood.

Lisa: A member of our Austin volunteer leader team. She is committed to showing up and speaking out because Planned Parenthood provides excellent health care for all women and their families. Lisa attended the DC rally because “the U.S. Supreme Court has the opportunity to correct the harm and cruelty the Texas Legislature created when they voted to enact this law.”

Kolby: A member of our Austin volunteer leader team. Since moving to Austin four years ago, he has been involved as a volunteer and is constantly reminded of the changes that have been enacted by so many of the incredible activists in his community.

For these organizers and activists, the rally represented a near culmination of a fight — a fight that is so important to Texas women and families. The Texas Legislature has passed extreme, harmful anti-abortion bills and restrictions over the past five years. Victor said that, “being in front of the Supreme Court made me confident that our voices may finally be heard.”

Rally attendees heard from various speakers, including leaders of major advocacy organizations, abortion fund staff, medical experts, community activists, and student leaders from the rest of the country. Nearly all of the speakers shared their personal abortion and healthcare stories to over 2,000 people in attendance. “To hear some of the stories told was to truly get back to the heart of the issue at stake – women and others benefited by the services offered by clinics are more than capable of making the decision to seek care,” Kolby shared. The stories were a reminder to our team that reproductive rights are human rights — and these stories are real, and happening in communities every day.

Following the rally, the volunteers visited some of our favorite champions, U.S. Representatives Marc Veasey, Filemon Vela, and Joaquin Castro, to thank them for their continued leadership in protecting access to women’s health. They reminded our members of Congress that ‪#‎WeWontGoBack‬ because the stakes in this case are way too high for Texas women – and women deserve full access to reproductive and abortion care.

Now that our seven activists have returned home, they are more energized than ever to continue this important fight in their communities. Barbie reminded us that our work is not done, saying “there’s a lot more to be done — to educate, to advocate — to show people that we are not backing down. We won’t go back to unsafe illegal abortions.” Cheryl will continue serving as a clinic escort in Waco because so many women “haven’t gotten to a place in their lives where they can devote resources to protecting their rights and their lives. I have the time and passion to help them do so.”At Planned Parenthood, we know that our organization and our work is only as strong as our supporters and volunteers. We are thankful to have Lisa, Cheryl, Elena, Staphany, Barbie, Kolby, and Victor in our Planned Parenthood family. Thank you for your tireless dedication and activism to Planned Parenthood and our collective reproductive health movement.

Austin, TX — Today, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will review a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision upholding restrictions that threaten to further devastate access to safe, legal abortion in Texas. If the Supreme Court does not reverse the lower court’s ruling, it would leave the 5.4 million women of reproductive age in Texas with only 10 health centers that provide safe, legal abortion in the entire state—down from approximately 40 health centers before passage of this dangerous law. The case is Whole Women’s Health, et al. v. Cole, et al. and the plaintiffs are represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights.

Within hours of the Texas restrictions taking effect last October 2014 and before the Supreme Court stepped in to temporarily block the restrictions, Planned Parenthood witnessed the catastrophic impact to women across the state — with health centers inundated with calls from frightened and upset patients, and women lined up outside health center doors, waiting to see if they could still access the care they needed at the Planned Parenthood health centers that remained open. In Houston, Planned Parenthoodreported that its call volume from patients seeking abortion services increased 170 percent when the law was in effect. Planned Parenthood in Austin received seven times as many calls about abortion services, as compared to typical averages. Across Central and North Texas, Planned Parenthood saw a daily average of four times as many calls from women seeking abortions. Many of these calls were from women living far outside the affiliates’ service regions, in cities such as Midland and McAllen, where providers had closed. Doris Dixon, a call center director for Planned Parenthood in Houston, shared a heartbreakingaccount of a woman who traveled from out of state and stayed in Houston overnight, only to find that she couldn’t obtain a procedure, writing: “I don’t know what will happen to her. I don’t know that I will ever stop thinking about her. And she is just one woman whose life has been turned upside down by this law.”

“We have seen the devastating consequences for women firsthand when this law went into effect last October — with patients lined up outside Planned Parenthood health centers and women frantically calling to get the care they need. If the Court upholds this clinic shutdown law, it could create a world where even though abortion is legal, it is completely out of reach for many women. A woman’s right to make personal medical decisions about abortion shouldn’t depend on where she lives. Make no mistake—this is part of a broader agenda to ban safe, legal abortion completely. In fact, the author of this very law has said she is ‘proud that Texas always takes the lead in trying to turn back what started with Roe v. Wade.’ This is not what Texans want–which is why thousands turned out to protest this dangerous law when it was jammed through the legislature.”

Statement from Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America:

“If the court allows this clinic shutdown law to stand, it would essentially take many women back to a time before abortion was legal. Texas paints a devastating picture of what’s at stake for women across the country — where women are already traveling hundreds of miles, crossing state lines, and waiting weeks to get an abortion, if they can at all. A woman’s very right to make personal medical decisions about abortion is now before the court. These clinic shutdown laws are a clear attempt to end women’s access to safe and legal abortion, and this is not what the public wants. When this law passed, it sparked historic protests in Texas and across the country. For more than 40 years, the U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed that the Constitution protects every woman’s right to make her own personal medical decisions about abortion — and Americans support that right.”

These restrictions have already shut down health centers across Texas, and women are already struggling to access safe, legal abortion. In fact, new research from the Texas Policy Evaluation Project (TxPEP) found that some women are waiting as long as 20 days to access abortion in Texas. If the Supreme Court does not reverse the appellate ruling, the situation could get even worse. Researchers estimate that the number of women seeking abortions at the remaining 10 health centers would increase dramatically beyond existing capacity, forcing longer delays that would nearly double the percentage of abortions in the second trimester. While abortion is an extremely safe procedure, it’s safest the earliest it’s provided.

Polls consistently show that the majority of Americans support access to safe and legal abortion. A recent Bloomberg Politics national poll found that 67% of Americans surveyed said the Supreme Court was right to rule that women have a constitutional right to abortion and agree with the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade. AVOX/Perry Undem poll found that more Americans now consider themselves pro-choice than pro-life. Sixty-eight percent of Millennials don’t want to see Roe overturned, and 72 percent of Republicans think abortion should be available.

“Governor Abbott’s political grandstanding is on full display this morning. Representatives from the Texas Office of Inspector General showed up at Planned Parenthood health centers in Brownsville, Houston, Dallas and San Antonio looking for an excuse to take health care away from thousands of women and men who rely on Planned Parenthood for preventive care — but what they will see is professional, compassionate and quality health care. Despite their efforts to distort the truth, health care — no matter what — is what happens at Planned Parenthood.”

BACKGROUND

In another calculated move that clearly shows their political motivations, an Austin reporter showed up with OIG at the San Antonio health center. On Monday, it was reporters and not the OIG that notified Planned Parenthood affiliates of the state’s plans to terminate Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid contract.

It is widely reported that Governor Abbott wants to make safe abortion illegal and end Texas women’s access to preventive health care at Planned Parenthood. Already, tens of thousands of women have been cut off from their trusted provider and access to preventive health care, but that’s not enough for Governor Abbott. He’s willing to play politics with women’s health and lives until he gets his way.

Texas Politicians Take Aim at Women’s Access to Care at Planned Parenthood AgainTens of thousands of women already going without care due to past attacks

Washington, DC – The state of Texas announced plans to end contracts for Planned Parenthood affiliates to provide birth control, cancer screenings, HIV tests and preventive care through Medicaid. Each year, Planned Parenthood affiliates in Texas care for thousands of patients through Medicaid. This comes hours after a federal court temporarily blocked a similar action taken by Louisiana officials. The courts and the Center for Medicaid, CHIP and Survey & Certification (CMCS) have been clear that federal law prohibits states from interfering with Medicaid beneficiaries’ access to the qualified provider of their choice. To date, two federal Courts of Appeals, the Seventh and Ninth Circuits, have agreed, blocking laws excluding abortion providers from Medicaid enacted in Indiana and Arizona, and the Supreme Court declined to review both of those rulings. CMCS clearly stated in an informational memo dated June 2011: “States are not, however, permitted to exclude providers from the program solely on the basis of the range of medical services they provide.”

“Once again politicians in Austin are showing how little they care about Texan’s health care. They’re launching yet another attack on low-income Texans’ access to preventive health care by announcing they intend to cut Planned Parenthood affiliates’ Medicaid contract. Already tens of thousands of women have lost their access to health care after years of deep cuts to family planning programs that provide access to lifesaving cancer screenings, HIV tests and well woman exams. Now their using thoroughly discredited, bogus attacks against Planned Parenthood as a shameful excuse to target Texas women’s health yet again. Planned Parenthood will continue to fight for access to health care and information for all Texans.”

“What’s happening today in Texas should be a national scandal. It is completely outrageous that Texas officials are using thoroughly discredited, fraudulent videos to cut women off from preventive health care, including cancer screenings, HIV testing, and birth control. This smear campaign has been completely discredited because the claims are completely false. In every state where this fraudulent smear campaign has been invoked, Planned Parenthood has fought for its patients to continue getting the high-quality, compassionate health care we provide, and in every state we’ve won. We will fight back against this outrageous, malicious, political attack in Texas with everything we’ve got, and we will protect women’s access to the health care they need and deserve.”

Years of hostile policies have already left tens of thousands of Texas women without access to cancer screenings, birth control, HIV tests and other preventive care. A series of recent studies detail the real-world impact of devastating budget cuts and funding schemes that blocked care at Planned Parenthood health centers:

One report showed that 55 percent of Texas women reported at least one barrier to accessing reproductive health care, including lifesaving cancer screenings or family planning services. Nearly 40 percent of women reported two or more barriers. Read more HERE from Texas Policy Evaluation Project.

A study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that the state’s family planning program served 54 percent fewer patients as a result of the 2011 budget cuts and tiered funding scheme. The researchers went on to write: “The tiered funding system placed organizations that had the greatest amount of experience providing these methods at a disadvantage and instead favored those that did not offer these methods as widely to their clients.”

In January, the State of Texas Health and Human Services Commission issued a grim report revealing that 30,000 fewer women received health care through the Texas Women’s Health Program (WHP) in 2013 than in 2011, following the state’s takeover of the program in order to ban Planned Parenthood. The Dallas Morning News reported that “the areas with the highest drops in the number of women served by the WHP occurred in areas where Planned Parenthood clinics shuttered.”

The Brownsville Herald, October 29, 2011: “[Brownsville Community Health Center] executive director Paula Gómez said she is concerned more women will lose out on vital care now that the Southmost clinic is gone and state funding has been cut. ‘Planned Parenthood, in those cases, was the only form of healthcare for a majority of these ladies,’ she said. ‘We’ve always had a good working relationship with Planned Parenthood and I think we’ve always worked hand in hand trying to do as comprehensive care as we can given our financial situation and our staffing situations.”

Huffington Post, May 11, 2011: “Those familiar with the mechanics of the [Women’s Health Program], however, question the feasibility of other health centers picking up the 42,000 women who would no longer be treated by Planned Parenthood. ‘The coverage will continue, but that may not mean much if you look at the overall picture,’ said Jose E. Camacho, Executive Director of the Texas Association of Community Health Centers. ‘Health centers’ funding is being leveled, so we can’t say in good conscience that [Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs)] have the capacity to take these women in.’ FQHCs are serving one million people, 230,000 of childbearing age. The future of health care for close to a quarter million clients is also hazy, Camacho says, considering the House’s recent cuts to Title XX, V, and X programs. To add 40,000-plus former Planned Parenthood patients would be a 20 percent increase and ‘just can’t be done over a night or two without funding.’”

Austin Chronicle, April 22, 2011: “Put simply, says Randall Ellis, senior director of government relations for the well-respected Houston FQHC Legacy Community Health Services, it takes the entire spectrum of providers, including Planned Parenthood, to meet the needs of the growing population of low-income people without access to reproductive and other basic health care services. ‘We work in conjunction with Planned Parenthood for family-planning and HIV services. We do referrals back and forth, so that people can receive services in the setting that they’re most comfortable in,’ he said. ‘These family-planning providers, providers that specialize in family-planning services, provide these services in a much more cost-effective manner than do the other [providers] without the know-how – much more [cost-effectively] than Legacy or the other FQHCs … that don’t have the background’ or expertise in providing reproductive health care.”

These laws have already shut down clinics and placed countless women at risk of serious harm.

“Planned Parenthood health centers are open and will continue to be here for the women who rely on Planned Parenthood for high-quality health care,” said Yvonne Gutierrez, Executive Director, Planned Parenthood Texas Votes

AUSTIN, TX – Today, the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review an appellate court ruling from June which if allowed to take effect, would decimate women’s access to safe, legal abortion in the state of Texas.

Texas’ clinic shutdown law would leave only 10 health centers that provide safe, legal abortion in the entire state, placing countless women at risk of serious harm. Planned Parenthood health centers in Texas witnessed firsthand the devastating impact of these restrictions when they temporarily went into effect last October.

Despite the fact that abortion is one of the safest medical procedures performed in the United States, politicians in Texas have repeatedly tried to sneak around the Constitution and four decades of Supreme Court precedent with sham laws that only make it more difficult, if not impossible, to obtain safe and legal abortion.

The American Medical Association, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and other national health care experts are united in opposing these burdensome regulations, arguing that they serve no medical purpose, interfere in the doctor/patient relationship, and do not to promote or advance women’s health.

It is clear that the politicians behind these laws are ignoring overwhelming scientific consensus to push a dishonest and harmful political agenda.

“Planned Parenthood health center staff has witnessed firsthand the terrible impact these restrictions would have on women across Texas, who cannot get to a medical provider and are forced to delay getting care. Politicians are not medical experts, yet politicians have written these restrictions with the end goal of cutting off access to safe, legal abortion. Planned Parenthood health centers in Texas will remain open for the women who rely on them for expert, high-quality health care.”

For nearly 80 years, Planned Parenthood has been a high-quality health care provider for Texas women, men, and teens. This includes birth control, lifesaving breast and cervical cancer screenings, STD testing and treatment, and other health care services. As we have said time and time again, Planned Parenthood follows all laws and has very high medical standards which are informed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

“Planned Parenthood works every day to ensure that Texans have access to high-quality, compassionate health care. We are the nation’s leading provider of high-quality reproductive health care and sex education. Millions of people walk through our doors every day, all across this country, and trust us to give them the health care and information they need. This may be a game for politicians, but for the women and men in Texas, it’s an attack on their access to health care.

“This thoroughly discredited smear campaign stems from totally false claims made by anti-abortion extremists who are pursuing a political agenda that is far outside the mainstream. Governor Abbott and the politicians behind these baseless attacks have allied themselves with extremists who are willing to lie, harass women and doctors, and reportedly break the law. It is clear that the public does not want elected officials spending time and money looking into patently false claims and working overtime to make it even harder for Texas women to access health care. Already, more than half of women in Texas report barriers to accessing reproductive health care. Planned Parenthood will continue doing everything in our power to fight this dangerous agenda on behalf of the Texans who rely on us.

Thousands of Texans gathered in the Capitol and raised their voices atmidnight to make sure our lawmakers heard us loudly and heard us clearly.

I don’t think any of us will forget where we were during that incredible moment. But, even more importantly, Texans haven’t forgotten how to fight!

Over the last two years, thousands of supporters like you have made one thing clear: We Will Never Give up!

We are still here. We’re not going anywhere. And we will fight to protect access to quality, affordable, reproductive health care in Texas. No Matter What!

On the anniversary of that historic protest we celebrate you and all Texans who refuse to be defeated. At times it may feel like these fights will never end, but we know that we are on the right side of history. And we know that no matter what politicians throw at us, we will never back down.